Three camels who escaped a nativity scene in the Australian city of Brisbane on Friday, have been safely returned to their owner.

The animals caused traffic chaos after escaping their pen at the Bridgeman Baptist Community Church.

They were part of a series of festive shows organised by the church in the lead-up to Christmas. The shows included a re-enactment of the Bethlehem story.

"Our camels got a bit lost on the way to Bethlehem!" the church posted on its Facebook page.

“Even sticking to the left in their own lane. Just going the wrong way. Gotta Love it,” one user commented.

“Wouldn’t expect anything less from animals owned by Wise Men,” the church replied.

Ty Thomas, the children's pastor at the church, told local news many people alerted them about the escape.

“Apparently what has happened is they have themselves unhinged their little gate themselves, they’ve got out themselves and they just thought, ‘hey, why don’t I just go for a bit of an extra stroll’,” he said.

“So they’ve just done a lap of the property, walked on the side of the road – you know where the bikes go – and they just walked around.”

Last year, a similar situation took place with a camel escaping a live nativity scene in Kansas City in the US. After being chased through gold courses and highways, he was safely returned to its owner.